Furlong contends that “Women who enter law firms quickly and accurately diagnose that these are amateurish organizations that employ archaic workflow systems, inept pricing mechanisms, skewed compensation structures, and largely ineffective management, not to mention a whole lotta personal dysfunction.”

Furlong recommends that women lawyers start solo practices, offering his “impression” that “women are already a growing and increasingly potent force in modern solo practices, where they can make their own rules.”

I know many fine women lawyers with solo practices, some of whom left for at least one of the reasons cited by Furlong.

There’s nothing at all wrong with that, of course. One of the most important benefits of legal practice is the number of choices it gives women to seek and find a way to excel, achieve economic freedom and have a family life at the same time. But so long as BigLaw remains a professional sector that wields such enormous economic and political power, it is a mistake to urge women lawyers to give up the fight for parity there.

Follow the Power

Nearly two of every five U.S. Senators are lawyers, which might account for the adversarial dysfunction of the place. As recent political battles over reproductive choice and violence against women prove, however, we need more women in Congress, not fewer. Dysfunction is no reason to leave the halls of power. It is reason for reform.

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Gotta be honest, I think there’s a lot of truth to what Jordan said. After all, Barack only summered at Sidley — he didn’t stick around! High pay aside, BigLaw is a pretty inhospitable environment, and I don’t know anyone who’s sorry they left.

Of course I’m all for women sticking around if they want to, but I’d never condemn anyone (male or female) for leaving.

Thanks for coming by to comment, Alison. I am not condemning anyone for leaving BigLaw. After all, I did, a couple of times. What I’m saying is that we shouldn’t encourage women to leave because it’s inhospitable for women (and for some men). Stick around for the series. It might change the way you look at the AmLaw. There’s a lot more there than money and some of the women’s initiatives are making it better for women in the big firms than in smaller ones. I’m also saying we should think twice about giving up power when there’s so much work to do on behalf of women and girls around the world.

I’ll be interested to see the rest of the series. People have very different BigLaw experiences depending on their personality, where they work, who they work for, how busy the practice area is, and so on. Even associates on different floors might have radically different experiences, which is why I encourage people to give it a shot if they have the opportunity and see how it goes. You never know! But, at the same time, I think it’s foolhardy to plan for a long career there these days, when attrition rates are what they are (and so few people are making partner). Best to have a Plan B!